NanoGurl's 75g Reef Thread
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NanoGurl
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9866443#post9866443 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REHEM
[B
Thanks NanoGurl! Nice pic too! That's exactly how I have been seeing the Sun corals, I just didn't know if they were unhealthy or not so I didn't make the purchase. I'll have to think about this one though. That's a whole lot of nurturing!
And as far as your overflow surges go, 1 of the 2 boxes in my All Glass did the same thing at first. I would try cutting your overflow hose to the water level also, but you might check the levelness of your tank. This is what my culprit was. My tank was off level by less than an eight of an inch, and after shimming underneath of the off side, the problem corrected itself immediately! Good luck with it!
You're welcome. Post up if you get some, they are neat. Thanks for the info. I did check and the tank is level. Much more level then my 54 ever was.
NanoGurl
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9866453#post9866453 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spleen93
Possibly because the flow rate with the 9.5 is too high and it causes a syphon effect and keeps the level in the overflow steady? But the 5 is not as strong so it causes an intermittent syphon effect where the level drops until the end of the durso breaks the surface, breaking the syphon, raises the level of the overflow until it restarts the syphon effect. The answer, as others have mentioned, would be to open the air valve more / make the hole bigger to prevent the syphon effect from occuring.
Of course, I could just be talking out of my butt too ...
BTW, NG - nice tank.
Spleen
Thanks Spleen!
NanoGurl
In Memoriam
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9866909#post9866909 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jacmyoung
NanoGurl, hope you get up and smile again, else too many sad faces will appear on RC the moderator will need to hire a shrink...
The mag5 pumps less, your drain on the other hand has more capacity at current air intake level so it flushes the water down and the pump can not keep up, the water level drops below the low point of the inverse U tube, the drain then stops till the water level in the overflow rises again to resume the flow.
So yes letting in more air will reduce the drain capacity that should help. However I am of the habit always be on the safe side, once something is cut it is hard to put back. I would add an airline to the hole, hookup with a small air pump with an air needle valve in between, try to pump a little more air (very little at a time since you don't want it to overflow) into it and fine tune with the valve. At least you can confirm our theory before destroying the hole.
But to completely eliminate microbubbles you will need to look into this silent drain method on RC, there is a very long thread on this I will have to dig up the link later. Many of us have been using that method for years, completely silent and without any air sucked in.
Here it is:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=344892
BTW I have been using it without an emergency drain without any issue, this way you don't need to add another pipe in the plumbing, only need to remove your U tube, probably have to cut back the standpipe, add a screen on top, then use a gate valve at the end of the drain outlet in the sump. At least that is in a nutshell.
There was debate in the thread about the importance of the emergency drain, some of us don't use it but it is up to individual to decide.
And BTW BTW, you can also just close up the drain valve a little to reduce the drain capacity manually and see if that will help, in case you are still not in the mood to waste any more time on it.
awww lol thank you
I am feeling better today. Sorta...Thanks for the great info and link. I will check it out tonight and see what's up.
muelpaul
Member
You seem to be on a mission tonight NanoGurl. I drilled a large enough hole to accomodate a 1/4"od tubing and placed a section of the tubing through the hole. I kept pushing it in, little by little until the surging stopped.
It is not as hard as you think, you or your BF could easily do it yourselves
It is not as hard as you think, you or your BF could easily do it yourselves
drummereef
Team RC
My sentiments exactly, NG. I would try enlarging the hole in the top of the durso just a hair at a time to find the sweet spot. Have you tried this yet?
drummereef
Team RC
This is straight from the Duro Standpipe site. Mega-flow overflows are basically 'trademarked' dursos, for better or worse. There still must be some manual adjustment to be made, imo.
Flushing Effect: A commonly reported problem when first installing standpipes is what I call a flushing effect. The water level in the chamber bounces up and down at a slow steady cyclic pattern. This is different than the issue above where the water level stays to low. This issues typically is not caused by the size of the air-hole in the end cap. The flushing effect is almost always caused by back pressure in the drain line. Typically the back pressure has two main causes:
Drain pipes in the sump being submerged below the water surface to far. Ideally you just want the drain pipes submerged about an inch or two. Just enough to reduce the splashing noise in the sump.
Any loops or dips in the drain lines if using flexible tubing. If using hard PVC pipe for the drain lines make sure they always have a slope to them, don't make them perfectly horizontal or perfectly vertical.
The flushing effect works like this: Back pressure in the standpipe prevents air in the pipe from exiting the drain line. Instead of exiting the drain line, the air bubbles try to rise in the pipe slowing the rate at which the pipes drain. The water level in the chamber then rises. The increase in the chamber water level adds pressure to help clear the air from the pipe. Once enough water pressure exists in the chamber to overcome the back pressure, the air is literally is "burped" out of the drain line which crates a sudden rush of water. This is displayed as a rapid drop in the overflow chamber water level. This cycle then repeats itself over and over as the back pressure builds and gets purged.
NG!
Flushing Effect: A commonly reported problem when first installing standpipes is what I call a flushing effect. The water level in the chamber bounces up and down at a slow steady cyclic pattern. This is different than the issue above where the water level stays to low. This issues typically is not caused by the size of the air-hole in the end cap. The flushing effect is almost always caused by back pressure in the drain line. Typically the back pressure has two main causes:
Drain pipes in the sump being submerged below the water surface to far. Ideally you just want the drain pipes submerged about an inch or two. Just enough to reduce the splashing noise in the sump.
Any loops or dips in the drain lines if using flexible tubing. If using hard PVC pipe for the drain lines make sure they always have a slope to them, don't make them perfectly horizontal or perfectly vertical.
The flushing effect works like this: Back pressure in the standpipe prevents air in the pipe from exiting the drain line. Instead of exiting the drain line, the air bubbles try to rise in the pipe slowing the rate at which the pipes drain. The water level in the chamber then rises. The increase in the chamber water level adds pressure to help clear the air from the pipe. Once enough water pressure exists in the chamber to overcome the back pressure, the air is literally is "burped" out of the drain line which crates a sudden rush of water. This is displayed as a rapid drop in the overflow chamber water level. This cycle then repeats itself over and over as the back pressure builds and gets purged.
NG!
NanoGurl
In Memoriam
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9879178#post9879178 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by muelpaul
You seem to be on a mission tonight NanoGurl. I drilled a large enough hole to accomodate a 1/4"od tubing and placed a section of the tubing through the hole. I kept pushing it in, little by little until the surging stopped.
It is not as hard as you think, you or your BF could easily do it yourselves
Thanks. I might try.
NanoGurl
In Memoriam
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9879346#post9879346 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drummereef
This is straight from the Duro Standpipe site. Mega-flow overflows are basically 'trademarked' dursos, for better or worse. There still must be some manual adjustment to be made, imo.
Flushing Effect: A commonly reported problem when first installing standpipes is what I call a flushing effect. The water level in the chamber bounces up and down at a slow steady cyclic pattern. This is different than the issue above where the water level stays to low. This issues typically is not caused by the size of the air-hole in the end cap. The flushing effect is almost always caused by back pressure in the drain line. Typically the back pressure has two main causes:
Drain pipes in the sump being submerged below the water surface to far. Ideally you just want the drain pipes submerged about an inch or two. Just enough to reduce the splashing noise in the sump.
Any loops or dips in the drain lines if using flexible tubing. If using hard PVC pipe for the drain lines make sure they always have a slope to them, don't make them perfectly horizontal or perfectly vertical.
The flushing effect works like this: Back pressure in the standpipe prevents air in the pipe from exiting the drain line. Instead of exiting the drain line, the air bubbles try to rise in the pipe slowing the rate at which the pipes drain. The water level in the chamber then rises. The increase in the chamber water level adds pressure to help clear the air from the pipe. Once enough water pressure exists in the chamber to overcome the back pressure, the air is literally is "burped" out of the drain line which crates a sudden rush of water. This is displayed as a rapid drop in the overflow chamber water level. This cycle then repeats itself over and over as the back pressure builds and gets purged.
Thanks a lot DR
I did try making the drain pipe shorter to only about 1" under the water and it didn't help, but I did not try a slope. My drain was straight down.
I guess I should try making a slope?
drummereef
Team RC
You could try and put a short 45 degree pipe leading into your sump and see if that helps. Mr. Durso knows... But, I still think the hole has to be adjusted somewhat to match the amount of air/flow your overflow is taking on. I would, in small increments, increase the hole in the top of the durso and see if that helps. Even though the hole is 'factory fitted' from AGA, I still think some manual adjustment is needed.
drummereef
Team RC
Usually the water level will get too high on the durso to perform efficiently. Just make the hole bigger in very small increments (1/16" increments) at a time until the water level in the overflow maintains its height at the mid-section of the tee.
The AGA dursos are adjustable as you know. How far does the water drop in the overflow from where you have the dursos placed? Normally you want about a 2" waterfall.
The AGA dursos are adjustable as you know. How far does the water drop in the overflow from where you have the dursos placed? Normally you want about a 2" waterfall.
I still think the easiest thing to do is turn the drain valve down a little, say 1/4 turn. The issue seems to do with the Mag5 too small for the drain while the drain was good for Mag9, so make the drain smaller should do the trick, only if that fails would I start cutting things.
I also realized you just bought two Nanostreams, there is a "Tunze Nano Mod" thread that describes how to double the pump flow with some simple mods. Check it out if, and only if you don't think they give enough flow for your 75g tank.
I also realized you just bought two Nanostreams, there is a "Tunze Nano Mod" thread that describes how to double the pump flow with some simple mods. Check it out if, and only if you don't think they give enough flow for your 75g tank.
NG- like most everyone else, I think your problem is the size of that hole. I have that same Megaflow kit. I didn't have that problem on initial setup, but every couple of months, the flushing starts. I found that the inside of the hole (where you couldn't see it) was clogged with salt creep. I clean it out with something small and rigid, airflow restored, flushing gone. Like everyone says, you need more air-don't be scared to make that hole bigger.
You're creating a suction effect that you need to break. You probably can hear a whistle through the small hole at the top of the stand pipe when the water level hits it's highest point and starts to drop. If you open the hole, the suction will go away, but your return may be greater than just the potential energy drop can create of the water flowing down the pipe. I put a valve in my return line to control the return. If you adjust this to a free flow down your standpipe, you can eliminate the fluctuations you are experiencing.
You're creating a suction effect that you need to break. You probably can hear a whistle through the small hole at the top of the stand pipe when the water level hits it's highest point and starts to drop. If you open the hole, the suction will go away, but your return may be greater than just the potential energy drop can create of the water flowing down the pipe. I put a valve in my return line to control the return. If you adjust this to a free flow down your standpipe, you can eliminate the fluctuations you are experiencing.
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